Tuesday, October 19, 2004

Time to elect judges in Virginia?

Via How Appealing, I see that Ed Lynch has declared in this column in the Roanoke Times that judges should be elected in Virginia. He says it would "prevent judges from ignoring us without penalty."

That's absolutely wrong. The courts serve more than the voters. You'll never convince me that judicial competence and independence are enhanced by making judges chase votes and, even worse, chase money for their campaigns. The quality of the federal judiciary is certainly none the worse for NOT being the product of local elections.

Bashman also has a link to this AP article, about how the West Virginia bar is appalled by the excesses of the ongoing campaign for seats on the state supreme court.